A Novel Curriculum for Surgical Oncology Fellowship Training in West Africa

Low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) lack the surgical capacity to contend with the growing burden of cancer care. West Africa is particularly affected, where limited cancer surgery is performed primarily by general surgeons without any subspecialty training. As a first step to develop surgical oncology capacity in the region, the West African College of Surgeons (WACS) in partnership with the Global Oncology Group at Queen's University, Canada, co-created a novel surgical oncology fellowship training program.

Curriculum development began with a literature review of publications, global position statements, and curricular documents from surgical oncology societies and accreditation bodies. The results were reviewed by the WACS team members to reach consensus on the competencies and objectives of the program based on the perceived needs and available resources in West Africa. Iterative discussions between the Queen's Global Oncology Group and WACS leadership led to the creation of the surgical oncology curricular documents.

A curriculum tailored to the West African context was developed to deliver essential knowledge, skills, and competencies for surgical oncologists in the region. The curriculum focuses on the six core domains of general surgical oncology, highlighting specific knowledge base and procedural skills within each clinical domain. Educational activities were outlined and the curriculum format, delivery, and trainee assessment were also described.

A surgical oncology curriculum developed specifically for the West African context will enhance the capacity for cancer surgery in the region. This curriculum may serve as a model for future surgical oncology program development in LMICs.